The Flames are quietly preparing for the NHL expansion draft

We’re only three games into the 2016-17 National Hockey League season for the Calgary Flames, but one shadow will loom over this entire year: the upcoming 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.

With the Las Vegas Desert Knights, er, No-Names, joining the NHL for 2017-18, we’re having an expansion draft in late June. That additional draft will mean a flurry of additional trade and signing activity, and has already resulted in a ton of pro scout traffic in the early season. (Traditionally, pro scouts only head out en masse prior to the trade deadline.)

How are the Flames looking in regards to the expansion draft and its various requirements?

ELIGIBLE TO BE CLAIMED

These guys will have completed three or more pro seasons under the NHL contract system. (In other words? Years under AHL contract don’t count.) Players that are eligible to be claimed are also eligible to be protected.

The Flames could re-sign Vey prior to the expansion draft, if he plays 29 games in the NHL this season.

Frolik plays three more games (meeting the 70+ over prior two seasons requirement).

Bouma plays 23 more games (meeting the 70+ over prior two seasons requirement).

Freddie Hamilton plays 40 NHL games.

Or the Flames could simply trade for a player (or multiple players) before the expansion draft that meet the requirements.

LOOKING AHEAD

Brad Treliving might be done for a while after the McCollum signing, as his biggest pressing need was satisfying the goalie requirements. The three fairly obvious moves that I expect before the expansion draft are new deals for Elliott, Jokipakka, and Bennett.

If the Flames instead opt to protect a goalie, three defensemen and seven forwards, they wouldn’t really need to do anything different. If you go that route, McCollum, Jokipakka and Stajan/Bouma could be exposed, and the Flames could additionally protect Frolik and one of Poirier/Shinkaruk (or Ferland, if he gets re-signed). It’s probably the route they end up going, as they can hold onto (a) strong roster players and (b) prospects while exposing a couple hefty contracts to the Las Vegas club.

The one thing I would like seen reviewed and discussed is the minimum requirements for selection by Las Vegas. The detailed Las Vegas draft guides that I have seen thus far involve them mostly opting for young, cheap players, however that does not jive with my memory of how much salary Las Vegas is obliged to draft. Is this something you could perhaps look at for a future article?

The fact that Las Vegas is required to draft a certain amount of salary could significantly impact which players they choose; For example, a solid player like Stajan might become more interesting to the team because he represents more salary and actual value at his price point. The draft guides I have read recently suggest that Shinkaruk will be the take for Las Vegas, but I strongly suspect that either Stajan or Jokkipakka would be due to this, as both have fairly reasonable contracts for what they would provide an expansion team.

Grossmann needs just 11 more games after his 1 against EDM. He played 58 for Arizona las year

Is this why he was played? I thought it was just for his ‘size’. But maybe the Flames want to get him 12 games and re-sign him at 575,000. Meet the minimum for the expansion draft and deal with RFA Jokkipaka after the expansion draft (effectively protecting him).

Edit: Why are people trashing this question? I didn’t say I wanted Grossman to play 11 more games… sheesh tough crowd.